The End of the Beginning
by Lothlorien
Summary: AU....after 'end of the world' things took a different turn....M/L


title: The End of the Beginning  
  
author: ivy black  
e-mail: ivyblack@hotmail.com (feel free to email me for any reason)  
  
disclaimer: i don't own a thing......well nothing Roswellian, that all belongs to JasonKatims and Melinda Metz  
  
spoilers: umm....'end of the world' and that's about it  
description: AU....after 'end of the world' things took a different turn.....that's about all i wanna say.....it's explained in the story =) enjoy  
  
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~The End of the Beginning~  
  
Liz stood silently staring at Max's weeping eyes. "I can't." She said. "I'm in love with someone else." And this time it wasn't a lie. She had fallen out of love with him. She had watched him slip away, and into Tess's arms. And she too had fallen into the waiting arms of someone else. Into Brian's arms.   
  
He had walked into her life as Max was walking out. She had cried on his shoulder and he had been there for her. She had lied to him of course. She had held back anything that would have endangered Max's life. That would endanger any of their lives. She had told him it was a messy break-up, that she had broken Max's heart, that Max had broken her heart. And it was true. Max had broken her heart, but not the Max she knew now. Not the Max that existed now.   
  
She had gotten past Max with Brian's help. She had learned to forget the passion, the love, and the lust she had felt for Max. And she learned to love anew. She had learned to love Brian. She had never loved Brian like she had loved Max, she had loved Brian out of default, out of some need to be loved back. But there was no question that she did love him.   
  
And now here was Max, begging her to forget all that she had worked so hard for. To descend back into the madness of loving him. And she was afraid. She was afraid because she wanted to accept his offer. She wanted to let go of everything and sob in his arms and kiss his lips and be his once again.   
  
But she couldn't allow herself to do that. It had been too long. She couldn't be sucked back into him, back into his world. If she did, she might never be able to get back out.   
  
She shook her head again. Tears escaping her hard eyes. "I don't love you any more." She whispered. She turned and ran from the room, flying through the door and out into the cool evening air. She hurried down the street, running as fast as she could and then jogging as her energy thinned. She didn't know how she ended up there, but it was probably the best place she could have stopped.   
  
She knocked on the door. It was almost ten but she didn't care. Alex opened the door and looked at her. She was covered in tears and sweat and she was shivering with exhaustion. "My God." He whispered and embraced her. She clung to him, sobbing, and he just rocked her back and forth and comforted her until her small body stopped shaking and she looked up at him.   
  
"He asked me to come back." She said. "He asked me to be his." Tears once again flowed from her eyes.   
  
Alex didn't need to ask. He knew only one person could have caused her such pain. He knew that only Max held that power. He silently cursed him for doing this to his friend. For doing this to Liz. "Come in." He spoke softly, pulling her in the doorway. "I'll call Maria."   
  
Maria came as fast as she could, the tires of the Jetta squealing on the dusty pavement as she stopped in front of Alex's house. She found them in Alex's room. Alex was comforting Liz as she cried quietly. She sat in the corner, on his unkempt bed, her knees pulled tightly to her chest and her face tucked between the two. Alex sat next to her, his hand making soothing circles on her back and his face was close to hers, telling her softly that everything would be okay.   
  
Alex looked up as Maria stood in the doorway. His eyes begged Maria to do something, to do anything to take Lizzy's pain away. She shook her head, tears rolling down her cheeks. There was nothing she could do. Max had done this to her again.   
  
She had barely lived through it the first time. She had sobbed for days, her parents had been worried out of their minds. Maria and Alex had been powerless to stop her pain. They had tried to convince her that Max was the worst thing for her. That he was too involved with the other aliens and that whole destiny business.   
  
She hadn't listened to them. She had just moaned and cried and mourned her loss. Eventually she had healed enough to go back to school. There she had met Brian and he had taken away that pain. At the least, he had covered it with his love for her.   
  
He had doted on her. He had comforted her and loved her until she let go of Max and taught her self to love him back. Now Max had destroyed that in one fowl blow.   
  
Maria crossed the room to join Liz and Alex on his bed. "Tell us everything honey." She said, wrapping her arms around Liz and holding her tightly.   
  
Liz cried softly onto her shoulder until she pulled away. "He came into the Crashdown." She told them, wiping her cheeks. "I was there, organizing some receipts and he came in. He stopped me from leaving. He said he wanted to talk to me. He said he needed me to listen to him." She stopped, and reached for a tissue.   
  
"Take your time." Maria said, handing her another.   
  
Liz nodded. "He told me he had broken it off with Tess. He said they were done, but they were friends. Tess was upset but she would get over it. He told me he wanted me back." She stopped again, sobs breaking into her words. They comforted her until she could continue. "I told him ....that I was in love with......someone else." She managed before totally breaking down.   
  
She shivered and sobbed in their arms, and they held her. They held her until body stopped shaking and she fell asleep in their arms. They lay her on the bed and covered her with a blanket and left the room.   
  
"That bastard." Maria whispered. "How could he hurt her like that?"  
  
Alex shook his head. "I don't know." He told her. "But we should call Brian."  
  
Maria nodded, crossing her arms over her chest. "I have his number in my purse."   
  
They waited for him to get there. They sat on the porch, whispering quietly and hoping that Liz's peaceful sleep continued. When Brian got there, they ushered him into the tiny room. Liz woke up, and seeing Brian, began to cry once again.   
  
Maria and Alex left the room. They could hear Liz's muffled voice, interspersed with Brian's soothing tone. Then the voices stopped, and Brian came out of the room. "She.. umm.. wants to see you guys." He told them, and he left the house.   
  
Maria and Alex entered the room. Liz had fallen asleep in a ball on the floor. They covered her and waited until morning.   
  
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As the sunlight began to enter the small room, Liz's eyes opened. She sat up, dried tears covered her face and her hair was sticking out in all directions. Alex and Maria were asleep on Alex's bed and Liz began to cry again for making them go through this with her.  
  
Liz's quiet sobs woke Maria and she shook Alex awake before joining Liz on the floor. "It's okay babe." Maria told her. "Everything will be okay."  
  
Liz stopped crying and shook her head. "No!" She told her friend forcefully. "It won't."  
  
"What happened with Brian?" Maria asked, hoping he had comforted her into a better place.   
  
Alex had joined them on the floor and was sitting next to Maria now. "Tell us Lizzy." He said.   
  
"I...." Liz stopped. "I..... I broke it off."   
  
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Max lay on his bed, he too was covered in dried tears. He stared up at the white of the ceiling through his blurry eyes. A small spot of sunlight was shining on the corner, reflected by a mirror.   
  
He looked out the window, surprised. He hadn't yet slept and was shocked to see that it was already morning. He cursed himself silently and turned on his side to stare at his nightstand.   
  
On it, between the lamp and the telephone, was a photo he had pulled from his closet the night before. It was a picture of him and Liz just before everything had gone wrong. They were standing in the school. Maria had snapped the photo, and then they had all laughed.   
  
Max reached for the photo and at the same moment the phone began to ring. He stared at it as it rang several times, then he reached over and answered it.   
  
"Hello?" He asked, his voice strained.   
  
"Hi." He heard a faint, female voice say.   
  
He sat straight up. "Liz?" He asked. "Is that you?" He prayed it wasn't his mind playing tricks on him.   
  
"Yeah." She said quietly. "I need to talk to you."  
  
He strained to hear her words. "Of course." He said. "What about?" He squeezed his eyes shut and mouthed 'please God, please'.   
  
"Us." She said, and he could hear that she was crying.   
  
Tears too flowed from his eyes. "Us?"  
  
"I....... I want....." She stammered.   
  
"Me?" He asked, beginning to sob.   
  
"Yes." She said before breaking down into a sob as well.   
  
They sat there like that for what seemed like eternity, sobbing together on opposite ends of the phone. "I love you Liz." He said.   
  
"I love you too." She told him. "I always will." And then it hit her. Max had forgiven her. He had come to her the night before still thinking that she had been with Kyle, still thinking she had betrayed him. She cried even harder, he had forgiven her for that heinous thing and wanted her back. He began to speak, but Liz cut him off.   
  
"Wait." She said. "I have to tell you.......I have to tell you something."  
  
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Maria and Alex watched happily as Liz hung up the phone and stopped crying. She turned to them. "I'm so tired." She said, laying back onto Alex's bed. Before they could answer, she had drifted away.   
  
Maria smiled. "I'm gonna go home." She said. "When Liz wakes up, call me."   
  
Alex nodded. "Sure." He said. "I'm just glad that she got him back."  
  
"Yeah." Maria said. "She needs him."  
  
They looked at her, sleeping with a faint smile on her face. "And he needs her too." Alex added.   
  
Maria hugged her friend, wrapping her arms behind his back and putting her cheek on his shoulder. She whispered. "It's finally over."  
  
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End file.
